The Cubs dealt Noles to the Tigers during Detroit`s September pennant drive with the Toronto Blue Jays. The Cubs were to be compensated by the ubiquitous ``player to be named.`` After Noles notched two saves to help the Tigers win the American League East, he was traded back to the Cubs as the

``player to be named`` last week. In essence, the Cubs loaned Noles to the Tigers.

`We`re still collecting information about it. We`re reviewing the situation,`` Bill Murray, an administrator in the commissioner`s office, said Wednesday from New York. ``After we get everything in, we will release something on it. Maybe by the end of the week, we will know something. There is a prohibition against lending players to another organization.``

Another source working closely with the investigation, who asked not to be identified, said Wednesday: ``The ramifications of this investigation could be very serious for any club official involved in this. We could be talking about fines and a possible dismissal.

``The Players` Association, for example, could file a grievance on behalf of the Toronto Blue Jays saying that they could have won the AL East if Noles had not been a member of the Tigers. They could file a grievance demanding the difference in a share for a first-place finish and a second-place finish. Same thing with the St. Louis Cardinals. They could argue that they could have beaten the Blue Jays in the World Series instead of losing to Minnesota. This could be very serious and there could be some very hard action.``

The perception of unethical doings appears to be a bigger issue than the practical nature of the deal. The commissioner`s office must determine whether the trade was made with the premeditated intent to return Noles to the Cubs.

``It does not look real good . . . the whole precept of trading a player for a player to be named later, when the player to be named is that player,`` said American League President Bobby Brown.

The problem would be more glaring if a top player on a noncontending team, say an Andre Dawson of the sixth-place Cubs, were traded to a team such as the New York Mets during the pennant drive in exchange for $1 million and a player to be named (Dawson), for example. After helping the Mets with his power hitting, Dawson could be traded back to the Cubs at the end of the season.

According to the commissioner`s office, there have been at least four previous deals made in the major leagues involving a player being dealt for himself, including one involving former Cubs catcher Harry Chiti and the Cleveland Indians in the early `60s.